1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to processes and apparatus for cleaning a photosensitive drum in an image forming device such as a laser beam printer, a light emitting diode printer, a facsimile machine, or a digital copying machine, and, more particularly, to a process and apparatus for cleaning an organic photosensitive (OPC) drum in an image forming device, of foreign matter adhering to the surface of the OPC drum.
2. Description of the Related Art
Image forming devices such as laser beam printers, LED printers, facsimile machines, or digital copying machines are devices for transferring, in the form of a visual image, an image signal resulting from a digital signal received from a computer or a scanner. In an image forming and printing procedure, a developing device operates to form an electrostatic latent image in response to a digital image signal received, and then to attach toner particles to the electrostatic latent image, thereby forming a toner image. The formed image is transferred to a copy sheet, that is, a printing medium. The copy sheet is then heated to permanently affix the toner image thereto. As the initial digital image signal is outputted in a form affixed to the copy sheet, the image forming and printing procedure is completed. Electrophotographic processors typically require a separate waste toner receiving space for toner residue removed from the surface of the OPC drum. The waste toner receiving space increases the volume of the developer, and hinders efforts to achieve compactness of the design of the electrophotographic processor. Recent design efforts have eliminated the cleaning blade used to remove the residual toner. Particles left on the OPC drum are recovered by a developing roller for reuse. Although toner particles remain on the surface of the OPC drum while in a negatively charged state, and can be reused after being recovered by the developing roller, foreign matter attached to the sheet of paper passing through the nip between the drum and the transfer roller are not in a negatively charged state and can not be recovered by the developing roller. Such foreign matter may adhere to the surface of the OPC drum and create undesired white spots on the printed image. As a result, a degradation in printing quality occurs. This adversely affects the performance of the electrophotographic processor, thereby severely degrading the reliability of the electrophotographic processor.